Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

With holidays coming up we thought it was more than necessary to talk about this, and to simply explain what exactly is. Between the fall and the winter time we all get the feelings of nostalgia, happiness, hope, homesickness and even sadness now and then bottled up together. But did you know that there's exactly a Disorder under the Psychology and Psychiatric study that entitled to this? Keep on reading to learn more about this.

So SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a type of depression kinda like feeling that can start over the fall and continue all troughs the winter, it can even affect your mood during the spring or summer. This is commonly called as: winter blues or depression, it can be identified as summer depression or seasonal depression. This last one in my opinion is the most relatable because even though it's very common during this time of the year it can happen basically during any season time. Common symptoms with this is sleeping to much or too little, have minimum energy or anxiety and overall just depression. It is very common for people to physically feel: nausea, cravings, irregular sleep schedule, difficulty concentraring, distancing from people, weight gain and many others.

What could cause this is basically the changes in weather, lifestyle and sunlight. The body can feel this changes and immediately react in a way that can lead to the symptoms of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) low serotonin that plays a role with our mood can be a cause of this too. A drop in melatonin levels could play a small significant role on this since this has to do with the sleep patterns and mood symptoms directly.

Other facts about this is that it's more commonly diagnosed in females than in males, the younger the higher the risk. Family history plays a role on this and if you present other mental disorder , other thing is exactly where you live can actually determine all of this symptoms. The risks of this is substance abuse, suicide risk and overall withdrawal from family and friends.

In this season, and every season if you or someone close to you start acting in a different way, please look for help now and not later.

Yarilix Santos is a senior undergraduate student majoring in Psychology. She is a DCP fall intern 2016 and research assistant. Loves to read, write and travel. In her free time you can find her either searching for new places to eat at Old San Juan or in a near coffee shop. She plans to go to grad school and study Industrial and Organizational Psychology